If you grew up watching the Saturday morning marathons of the Saiyan Saga, you definitely remember the "hammer" episode. You know the one. Goku is stuck on a tiny planet in the afterlife, chasing a monkey named Bubbles. Then, out of nowhere, this hyperactive, talking cricket appears. Gregory. He's loud, he’s fast, and he basically treats the Savior of Earth like a total amateur.
Honestly, it’s one of those weird Dragon Ball Z moments that just sticks. But there is a huge debate that has been raging in the fandom for decades: Is Gregory even real?
The "Filler" Elephant in the Room
Here is the truth that might hurt. If you crack open the original 42 volumes of the Dragon Ball manga by Akira Toriyama, you won’t find Gregory. Not once. He isn't in a single panel. In the manga, Goku catches Bubbles, and then King Kai immediately starts teaching him the Kaio-ken.
Wait. Before you call him "non-canon" and move on, there’s a twist.
While Gregory is technically "filler"—content added by the anime staff to prevent the show from catching up to the books—he wasn't just some random doodle by a Toei Animation intern. Akira Toriyama actually designed him. The anime team specifically asked Toriyama for another character to flesh out Goku’s training. They wanted someone who could talk, unlike Bubbles. Toriyama sat down, drew a cricket in a vest, and Gregory was born. This puts him in a weird limbo. He isn't in the source material, but he has the "Creator's DNA."
He’s basically the cool step-child of the DBZ universe.
That Impossible Speed: How Strong is He?
Let's talk power levels. We usually think of King Kai’s planet as a place for "gods," but Gregory is just a little guy. Or is he?
In the Tree of Might movie pamphlet—one of those rare bits of official-ish lore—it’s stated that Gregory has a power level of 1,100. 1,100!
To put that in perspective, Raditz (the guy who kidnapped Gohan and killed Goku) was around 1,500. This means this tiny, flying cricket is nearly as strong as a Saiyan warrior. He would have absolutely bodied Yamcha or Krillin during the 21st World Martial Arts Tournament.
Imagine Gregory versus Mercenary Tao. It’s not even a fight; the cricket wins.
Goku had to spend two weeks just to tap this bug on the head with a heavy mallet. The gravity on King Kai’s planet is 10 times that of Earth, so while Goku was struggling to breathe, Gregory was zip-zapping around at supersonic speeds like it was nothing.
Why the Name Gregory?
It seems like such a normal name for a show where people are named after vegetables (Vegeta) and underwear (Bulma).
Most fans believe it's a nod to Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. In that book, the protagonist is Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one morning transformed into a giant insect. It’s a bit of high-brow literary humor for a show where people scream for three episodes to grow blonde hair, but it fits Toriyama’s dry wit perfectly.
The Death and (Lack of) Resurrection
Gregory’s biggest moment—and most tragic—is when Cell decides to turn himself into a biological bomb.
Goku teleports Cell to King Kai’s planet to save Earth. Boom. Everyone dies. Goku, King Kai, Bubbles, and Gregory are all vaporized in an instant.
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Here’s where it gets annoying for the characters. When the Z-Fighters use the Dragon Balls to wish back everyone killed by Cell, Gregory stays dead. Why? Because the wish was for people "on Earth." Since Gregory died in the Other World, he didn't qualify for the revive.
He spends the rest of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super with a tiny halo floating over his antennae.
- Anime Debut: Episode 20, "The Return of the Saiyan Legend! Goku's Roots"
- Species: Sprite/Cricket-like humanoid (In the game Attack of the Saiyans, his race is officially called "Sprite")
- Role: King Kai’s butler, training partner, and occasional trash-talker
Does He Actually Matter in 2026?
You might think Gregory is just a relic of the 90s. He’s not.
When Dragon Ball Super started, many "manga-only" fans expected him to vanish. Instead, he was right there. He’s in the Battle of Gods arc, he's in the Resurrection ‘F’ arc, and he’s still hanging out with King Kai while Goku trains for the Tournament of Power.
By including him in Super, the creators basically officially cemented him into the animated continuity. He might not be "manga canon," but he is "franchise canon."
He represents a specific era of Dragon Ball—the era where the training felt slow, the stakes felt personal, and even a tiny bug could be a master of martial arts. He’s a reminder that in this universe, size really doesn't mean anything.
If you’re revisiting the series, keep an eye on Gregory. He is the only character who can consistently talk back to King Kai and get away with it. He's got more attitude than most of the secondary cast, and honestly? We kind of respect the hustle.
Actionable Insights for DBZ Fans:
If you want to experience Gregory’s full "lore," play the 2009 Nintendo DS game Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans. It features a side quest where you actually travel to Gregory’s homeworld, giving him more backstory than the entire anime ever did. Also, pay attention to the halos in Dragon Ball Super; Gregory’s presence is a constant reminder of the "Cell Games" tragedy that never truly got fixed for the residents of King Kai's planet.